It was a simple enough idea; take the concept of 3D printing – which has recently been shown to create just about everything from key chains to cars – and put it to work making a complete firearm. While some success has been found with creating upper registers and parts in 3D printing, a new development known as the Liberator seems to have changed the game substantially.

The Liberator – named after the breed of low-cost, low-complexity single-shot steel pistols sent to occupied France during World War II – is somewhat similar to its namesake. A small, mostly 3D-printed handgun, the Liberator fires a .380 caliber bullet. The weapon is nearly completely made of plastic, and printed on a second-hand Stratasys (News - Alert) Dimension SST 3D printer. The only part of the weapon that isn't 3D printed is the firing pin, made from a commonly-available hardware store nail.

The Liberator's designer is a familiar name in gun control circles: Cody Wilson. Wilson was recently spotted working on the Defcad project, part of Wilson's Defense Distributed project, which was out to offer the means to print handguns throughout the world yet met with no small amount of controversy itself. The prototype Liberator took four hours to print, and firing a single round from the weapon seemed to have left its largely plastic construction undamaged.

Additional testing involving a 5.7x28 rifle cartridge, meanwhile, caused the weapon to explode. Testing on a printed barrel attached to a non-printed gun body revealed that it could handle fully 10 rounds of .380 ammunition before reaching a critical failure with its next round. Even Wilson was left somewhat surprised by this development, but it was noted that certain changes in the manufacturing process may have left the components more durable than commonly expected.

The response to this development has been mixed, with some in Congress demanding a ban to 3D printed weaponry altogether. But with 3D printing already showing ways to work around gun laws – Congress debated bans on any magazine with a capacity over 10 rounds, and 3D printing followed up by making a 30-round magazine for both AR-15 and AK-47 rifles – it's enough to make some wonder if this particular genie can ever be put back in the bottle. While some are calling Wilson a "hardcore insurrectionist," Wilson himself looks at his creations as more a way to preserve individual sovereignty, leaving government "increasingly...on the sidelines, saying 'hey, wait.'"

With much of Defense Distributed's funding coming in via Bitcoin (an earlier Indiegogo project for Defense Distributed was pulled) and members of Congress decrying its work, it would be enough for some to get disheartened and shut down. Even Wired recently included Wilson on a list of the 15 most dangerous people in the world right now. But none of this seems to be even slowing Wilson's progress, and a weapon that can be printed from any PC may only be a short while away.

3D printing has an amazing amount of potential to produce many of the things in standard use around the world. Cars, toys, even much less expected things like food and, yes, firearms – it's clear that this is going to be a game changer anywhere it reaches. But how will such a technology be used? There are certainly a lot of possibilities, and as availability goes up and prices come down, these possibilities may be closer to realization than anyone is thinking.